Alison Penfold (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Labor government have fallen 77,000 homes behind their own housing target. Labor have allowed 1.4 million new migrants to come to our country since they were elected. How many houses have been built for all the new migrants?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. Indeed, we do have a housing target of 1.2 million homes by the end of the decade, which is why we're absolutely throwing everything at it. It's why we have public housing, that those opposite opposed, through the Housing Australia Future Fund. It's why we have a shared equity scheme, that those opposite opposed, that has helped thousands of people into homes. It's why we also have the five per cent deposit scheme, which has benefited more than 200,000 people get into homes. It's why we have our Build to Rent scheme, which is an incentive for the private sector to build more homes for people, particularly affordable housing for essential workers, that those opposite opposed as well. All of these supply measures have been important, and that is what we want to do.

In addition to that we have also built on our previous support for local infrastructure by putting an additional $2 billion into that fund to make sure that more homes can be built through that. And one of the policies that we've had for education is to ensure that if universities wanted additional places for foreign students, they would have to provide housing for them. That was opposed by those opposite. They opposed that legislation, which goes to the very heart of the question that was asked.

This side of the House is the party of aspiration. We want people to be able to get into a new home, and that was emphasised by the existing system dampening down aspiration, when the current shadow treasurer said that the current system—to quote him—'favours well-off established interests against those trying to get ahead'. Well, we want people to get ahead. We want people to be able to live with the security of their own roof over their head. That's why, as well, we have changed our position on capital gains and negative gearing to ensure not only that people can invest in housing to get themselves ahead and to increase their assets and their future wealth but that they also help to build supply, because if you have a limited amount of funds—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Bowman is now warned.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

and you have to invest either in new builds or in existing homes—competing against young people trying to get into a home that they actually want to live in—then you need to level the playing field. That's what we've done. This will also increase supply, which is the key to dealing with housing issues but also having housing opportunities. (Time expired)